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Canadian Pro Skier Dave Treadway Dies After Falling into a Crevasse

04/18/2019

Professional skier Dave Treadway died on Monday following an accident while skiing in Pemberton, British Columbia in Canada, Pique Newsmagazine reported.

A post on Treadway’s website also confirmed his death. “We’ve learned that Dave Treadway, an incredible skier and a monumental human, has passed away after an accident near Rhododendron Mountain, Pemberton,” the statement read. “We are sending lots of love to his wife, Tessa, and their two sons, Kasper and Raffi.”

According to Pique, Treadway, 34, was skiing with a group in the backcountry when a snow bridge collapsed under him, plunging him nearly 100 feet into a crevasse near Rhododendron Mountain. Pemberton District Search and Rescue (PSAR) responded to the incident, but unfortunately Treadway died at the scene, according to the outlet.

PSAR confirmed the incident in a press release, but did not identify Treadway by name.

“It was just an unfortunate incident going through unknown terrain,” Head of PSAR David MacKenzie told Pique. “There are crevasses all over the backcountry and in the glacial area. Various ones may have an ice bridge over them or something, and some of them can be sight unseen.”

The ice bridge had likely been weakened by warm temperatures, he told Outside Online. MacKenzie also explained to Pique that recovering Treadway was “a very technical operation” and involved 14 crew members.

“I would say the depth of the crevasse was paramount to the operation,” he said. “Having to put in various ice anchors and protection and getting our team down into the crevasse to access the subject was one thing, and then being able to actually rig it back up so that they could be pulled back up to the surface was another.”

Friends also confirmed Treadway’s death on social media, and his family’s social media account shared a tribute post, welcoming followers to “A Celebration of Life for Dave” held at Pemberton Secondary School on Monday, April 22, 2019, at 2 p.m. local time.

Treadway is survived by his two young sons, Kasper, 6, and Raffi, 2, and his wife, Tessa, who is pregnant with their third child. A GoFundMe page was launched to help support his family, and as of Thursday morning the page had raised $159,851.